Thursday, June 12, 2014

Best Accident

iPod Thinks I've Downloaded 345 Podcasts
Find myself looking forward to Zumba. Still can't dance but I do like the music. And Thursday? It's a good day since I'm ready to shake off a few things but also not the best day because I'm starting to drag.

Shawny strayed from the usual one rule of Zumba -- to have fun. Tonight's edict -- smile and shake it. Although Shawny, at some point, tends to ask us what's wrong because we are subdued with our smiles. Come on, smile; it's Thursday, she says. Yes, Thursday -- the double-edged sword.

I do think that I'm drawn to Zumba because it is fun after you get over the whole not-knowing-the-routine-going-in-the-wrong-direction thing...

Took a short walk before Zumba and listened to the end of The Freedom in Failure.

I've been looking for more podcasts and heard about StoryCorps while listening to yet another podcast. Well, I accidentally downloaded Sarah Lewis' The Freedom in Failure, a We The People (National Constitution Center) podcast. That was one of the best accidents ever. Can't say the same thing for Sex and Death which I accidentally downloaded instead of Death, Sex and Money.

I like so much of what Lewis talked about:
The benefits of the near miss...
She brings up Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee and how, in 1984, she lost the heptathlon by 1/3 of a second. Next time around, Joyner-Kersee set a record that still hasn't been broken.
Play is the opposite of depression...
Grit as a portable skill...
Lewis also discusses Samuel Morse who wanted to be a Rembrandt but was, of course, known for the telegraph. I was totally fascinated by Lewis' thoughts on Frederick Douglass and can't wait to read her book The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure and the Search for Mastery.

Now, if I could only find my Ruby Dee book...


4 comments:

  1. I go through podcasts like crazy. I listen to most of the NPR stuff, but StoryCorps I think is too often weepy. If I'm thinking of the right one. I like "Snap Judgment," although I've never known why it's called that. "Ask Me Another" is pretty funny. Do you listen to "Fresh Air"? I absolutely cannot stand Terry Gross, but they are usually very good interviews.

    And "A Way with Words" and "You Are Not So Smart," which aren't NPR. "Authors on Tour" and "Vanity Fair Writers Reading".

    Later I will look on my computer upstairs and see what I've got there.

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  2. I got a little panicky when I couldn't find anything that sounded interesting. Yes, Krista Tippett said something similar about StoryCorps but I was still intrigued.

    I do listen to "Fresh Air" and I've downloaded a couple of "You Are Not So Smart" episodes. Out of "desperation," downloaded NPR's "ask me another."

    Can't wait to download some of your recs. Thanks. :)

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  3. I looked on my computer and almost everything is from NPR. I listen to Car Talk, and used to listen to The Story, which sadly is no more. This American Life, The Moth, the Diane Rehm show, etc.

    The host of Ask Me Another bugs me for some reason I can't pinpoint. Maybe it's just the quality of her voice, I don't know. But I can ignore her for the sake of the comedy. I tried Pop Culture Happy Hour, but again it's the voices I can't stand. Everyone on that show has vocal fry which drives me right up a wall. Intolerable.

    The Los Angeles Public Library ALOUD series can be good. They're usually very long, over an hour, and the sound quality is variable. I also used to like Truth Driven Thinking. They aren't produced anymore, but as far as I know you can still download them.

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  4. Thankyouthankyouthankyou...

    I doesn't bother me if the podcast is over an hour. I like StoryCorps and I wish that some of the segments were longer.

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